news, latest-news,
A new public direction declaring individual exposure sites in Victoria as hotspots will come into place from 2pm Thursday. The declaration follows news on Wednesday that a hotel quarantine worker in Melbourne had tested positive to COVID-19. ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said unlike other hotspot declarations, the direction will only relate to specific exposure sites rather than larger areas. “This is because the period of potential exposure is such that it is very unlikely there’s two chains of transmission here,” Ms Stephen-Smith said. “Once all of the contacts who have been to these exposure sites have been identified and go into quarantine that will break any further chains of transmission in the community.” Ms Stephen-Smith advised Canberrans who have recently travelled in Melbourne to check the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services website to see if they had been to COVID-19 exposure sites. She said Victorian authorities may add more COVID-19 exposure sites to its list and advised people to regularly check for updates. “If you have been at any of these exposure sites you must immediately isolate, get tested and let ACT health know that you are isolating and quarantining,” she said “You will need to do 14 days of quarantine if you have been to one of these exposure sites – the same as if you lived in Victoria.” Ms Stephen-Smith also announced that a new test of waste water from the Belconnen facility returned negative for COVID-19. On Saturday, virus fragments were found in sewerage from the Belconnen area prompting concern about a potential COVID-19 case. People who live or work in Belconnen were told to get tested for COVID-19 if they experienced any symptoms of the virus. “[The sewerage] was tested on Monday and the result came back yesterday afternoon,” Ms Stephen-Smith said. “[The results] indicate it was most likely that positive test for fragments of coronavirus was a result of someone who had previously been identified as COVID positive who was still shedding the virus.”
/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/99T2dGQqx4Q5Jfn4kE7iKW/26a7b15c-d013-43ab-a2fa-543feb0c01d3.jpg/r9_217_4167_2566_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg
A new public direction declaring individual exposure sites in Victoria as hotspots will come into place from 2pm Thursday.
The declaration follows news on Wednesday that a hotel quarantine worker in Melbourne had tested positive to COVID-19.
ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said unlike other hotspot declarations, the direction will only relate to specific exposure sites rather than larger areas.
“This is because the period of potential exposure is such that it is very unlikely there’s two chains of transmission here,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.
“Once all of the contacts who have been to these exposure sites have been identified and go into quarantine that will break any further chains of transmission in the community.”
Ms Stephen-Smith advised Canberrans who have recently travelled in Melbourne to check the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services website to see if they had been to COVID-19 exposure sites.
She said Victorian authorities may add more COVID-19 exposure sites to its list and advised people to regularly check for updates.
“If you have been at any of these exposure sites you must immediately isolate, get tested and let ACT health know that you are isolating and quarantining,” she said
“You will need to do 14 days of quarantine if you have been to one of these exposure sites – the same as if you lived in Victoria.”
Ms Stephen-Smith also announced that a new test of waste water from the Belconnen facility returned negative for COVID-19.
People who live or work in Belconnen were told to get tested for COVID-19 if they experienced any symptoms of the virus.
“[The sewerage] was tested on Monday and the result came back yesterday afternoon,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.
“[The results] indicate it was most likely that positive test for fragments of coronavirus was a result of someone who had previously been identified as COVID positive who was still shedding the virus.”
